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Mass Effect 3 alternate-ending petition raises $35K for charity

Retake Mass Effect movement collects donations for Child's Play as a way to call for BioWare to make new endings for its latest sci-fi role-playing shooter.

A number of Mass Effect fans are upset with the way the latest entry in the series ended, and they're voicing their displeasure by giving to charity.

It's tough to argue against charity.

It's tough to argue against charity.

Members of the Mass Effect community have set up the Retake Mass Effect ChipIn fund, collecting PayPal donations for the Child's Play charity in order to call attention to their request for BioWare to make alternate Mass Effect 3 endings.

As of press time, the fund had raised more than $35,000 from more than 1,400 contributors. The donation drive will run until April 11.

Spoilers Click to Reveal
The group takes issue with the current possible endings to the game, saying they don't provide a sense of closure, adequate explanation of what happened, or meet the expectations people have of Mass Effect games. As a result, they are asking for new endings that better explain story events, spell out how player decisions affected the outcome, and include "a heroic ending, which provides a better sense of accomplishment."

Founded in 2003 by Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, Child's Play works to improve the lives of sick children through offering toys and games at a network of over 70 hospitals worldwide. For more on Child's Play, see the organization's official website.

As of press time, Child's Play and Electronic Arts had not returned requests for comment.

214 Comments

  • 00Joseph00

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 10:06 pm GMT

    SPOILER: You will hate the ending.

  • Gelugon_baat

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:46 pm GMT

    @00Joseph00
    You might want to place a big SPOILER warning label on your post.

  • Gelugon_baat

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:43 pm GMT

    Just a publicity stunt.

    I would rather they focus on the more convincingly consumer-related issues with this game - like its on-disc DLC and its requirement that the player experience anything in between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 to understand the prologue of the third game.

    Oh sure, it can be argued as a product-satisfaction issue, but the ending isn't exactly related to more technical matters like user-friendliness and product packaging.

  • RadView

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:36 pm GMT

    @liketires

    Not letting it but I still have to justify how much I spend on my games.
    It being an EA published game im already in the used department.

  • Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:21 pm GMT

    @liketires I loved Nier, one of my fav games this gen, but each to their own I guess

  • liketires

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:20 pm GMT

    @Lordcrabfood I disliked Nier, too much confusion and was all over the place for me. Never played Deadly Premonition. But Alan Wake and Heavy Rain are exemplary examples of story telling so I agree with you on those.

  • Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:17 pm GMT

    @liketires Final Fantasy, god no. I prefer the stories of Nier, Deadly Premonition, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain

  • liketires

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:17 pm GMT

    @RadView Dont let everyone spoil it for you. They are just upset because there isnt as much closure as theyd have wanted in the endings (which is justified). But the game as a whole is one of the most emotionally engaging stories ive ever played, and I have admittedly cried a few times >.> lol

  • bloodhunt1

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:12 pm GMT

    I'd like to see a new ending, after playing three games the least they can do is giving me the chance of ending this game properly... For those who are saying the endings are ok... Just play the game till the end, then comment.

  • liketires

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:12 pm GMT

    @Lordcrabfood Guess I can't make you think any different, but what are games with good stories and gameplay in your opinion then? So help me God if you say Final Fantasy.

  • RadView

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:12 pm GMT

    I have played ME1 and 2 and enjoyed it, but the more I read about this so called bad ending(without spoiling it for myself) the longer it will be before I purchase this game and see what all the fuss is about because Ill be waiting until I find an uber cheap used copy now.

  • Oldboy08 posted Mar 14, 2012 8:09 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Oldboy08

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:09 pm GMT (hide)

    Quit whining. Jesus. I've never seen gamers whine so much.

  • Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:06 pm GMT

    @liketires I have had to misfortune to play many Bioware games, they are all terrible. Boring stories, boring gameplay. Bioware are the worst developer on the planet. FACT.

  • Nickplays

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:05 pm GMT

    didn't a similar charity petition go around for dragon age 2 that also fell on Bioware/EA's deaf ears?

  • liketires

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 8:02 pm GMT

    @nightmarishkitte I agree, the 3 current endings would be acceptable as long as there was a more heroic ending along with them.

    Also an ending even MORE dark than the other ones would be another great addition. (Reapers win, kill all organics)

  • botswanky

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:59 pm GMT

    Are these people for real? what a sad, sad world.

  • liketires

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:59 pm GMT

    @Lordcrabfood Have you ever played KOTOR or Baldur's Gate? Or any one of their other games besides DA2? (ME3 was an amazing game before the endings.)

  • Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:50 pm GMT

    Anyone that finds a Bioware product even remotely engaging is obviously intellectually handicapped.

  • DreadfulGlory

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:49 pm GMT

    Who cares? The game ended that way to let you decide what happened. as well as provide a hook if they ever want to bring the franchise back. If you want to find out what happens, buy the DLC. Welcome to the new video game industry.

  • sagameister3

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:44 pm GMT

    I've already beat & sold the game and moved on to Tales of graces, then looking forward to xenoblade chronicles. The ending was definitely 'MEH' but whatever, not going to spend more money for extra endings.

  • ferna1234

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:43 pm GMT

    u'r such crybabies.. u don't like bad endings? go watch Disney channel.

  • lucas182

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:36 pm GMT

    @darckdeth 6??? I had THREE... and they all sucked... (I reloaded and tried them all).. same cinematic by the way... except one is blue, one is green, and one is red... talk about lazy...

  • darckdeth

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:15 pm GMT

    one the ending was just fine no need to change there are other routes they could have taken but its fine u have 6 to choose from.

  • Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:12 pm GMT

    lol give me thumbs down, just makes me even happier.

  • delateur

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:10 pm GMT

    Why not just end Bioware? I say the vote that counts is the one with money attached to it...

  • endersgone

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:09 pm GMT

    @lwe316

    Yes, you're right we are the minute vocal minority (right now), but I expect our numbers might grow a bit in the coming weeks - as others finish the game. There are some who will give us grief and misrepresent our cause, but any way this turns out donating is better than just raging on internet forums. I'm aware that our donations have little chance of changing things, but I think we turned our frustration into something positive... even if our motives might be in question.

  • nighmarishkitte

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:07 pm GMT

    dont change the endings...just add more endings

  • nighmarishkitte

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 7:04 pm GMT

    to all you sayin to get over it the games must mean something different... when i spend 5 years across 3 games developing relationships connecting to characters and investing in situations i want to see how it all turns out. these endings where not extremely horrible, they just left no closure man, no sense of reward for all that investment...

  • Claroosoo

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:44 pm GMT

    lol, ultimate revenge..lets donate to charity instead your DLC! that will totally make them listen...

  • Lordcrabfood posted Mar 14, 2012 6:40 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:40 pm GMT (hide)

    Nothing makes me happier then knowing that you idiots who buy Bioware games are not happy with their purchase.

  • Unfallen_Satan

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:36 pm GMT

    I applaud the charity effort.

  • Pyronius

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:35 pm GMT

    Though I'm not optimistic, I really hope Bioware does something with the end - an expansion pack, or something. I busted my hump all yesterday so I could see how the story ends, and that's the thanks I get? Not quite what I was hoping for...

  • david60639

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:32 pm GMT

    And DLC cash.

  • Patohua1

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:26 pm GMT

    Does anyone else think that Bioware made their ending terrible on purpose just to get all this press? Just sayin lol

  • KIDFOX

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:25 pm GMT

    wtf??? I laughed when I read this article. how about every other production companies make a bad ending so we all have more good people on earth to do the right move...

  • lwe316

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:24 pm GMT

    @ endersgone

    Raising $40,000 is nice, but from what I understand about this:

    27,963 people as I write this like the FB page to change the ending.
    1715 people have contributed.

    Lets round that up to 30,000.

    Mass Effect 3 so far has sold appox. 1.85 million copies in the first week.

    So if you go by those numbers, the complaints are coming from 1.6% of the people who bought the game.

    Plus another thing people have to be careful of is that you're not just donating to Child's Play as a way to somehow shame Bioware into doing something about the ending. There will be some people who say, "Well, if it had been the ending you had wanted, would you still be donating to Child's Play?" I'm not saying Bioware won't listen to the complaints, but I don't think a total rewrite of the ending is going to happen.

    Again, just my opinion. Don't have to agree with it if you don't want to.

  • Mr__Maniacal posted Mar 14, 2012 6:21 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Mr__Maniacal

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:21 pm GMT (hide)

    They'll just do what enix-square did. create a viral video that leads to mass effect 3 Pt. 2

    Frankly all the games sucked and i never played past any of the demos. serves you idiots right. you want a movie go to the theater. you want a game well..........go buy past GEn systems cause they ain't gonna make games anymore

  • Ulvenkai

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:19 pm GMT

    Who would ever have thought that BioWare, one of the greatest RPG storytellers of all time, would troll us with a deus ex machina plot device for an ending.

    I can't express how disappointed I am in BioWare.

  • PsychoCygnet

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:18 pm GMT

    I don't get why people would get annoyed at this. Even if you don't agree with the motive behind these donations, they're still doing something beneficial. It's not like they're picketing outside GameStop or smashing in people's windshields. So what's up with the "Get over it" comments? As far as I can see, the only part of their behavior that could be called offensive is that their opinion isn't the same as yours. (And I'm really, really resisting the temptation to tack a "Get over it" onto that last sentence.)

  • Lordcrabfood posted Mar 14, 2012 6:16 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Lordcrabfood

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:16 pm GMT (hide)

    I hope Bioware does release dlc with a new ending and charges all you whingers a premium. The series is so lame, who cares!? A different ending will not lift the series out of mediocrity.

  • balintcsikos

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:15 pm GMT

    I tell you a secret. Not only the last few minutes were the end of the story. During your mission you decided which races should stay alive at the end. The final cutscene and the whole story is about the reapers,synthetics and the connection between different races. These were more important than the future of your crew members...

  • HandsomeJack19

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:12 pm GMT

    I played all 3 Mass Effect games on my 360, but having purchased a great gaming PC, I had planned on buying the trilogy down the road again once the last of the ME3 DLC had finished coming out. That being said, while Bioware has the right to finish their story however they want (because it is clearly THEIR story and NOT ours, despite what they said in their advertising campaigns) I will not be buying them again, such is my dissatisfaction with the ending as it is. That is how MY Mass Effect story ends... with my money staying safely in my wallet.

  • Toysoldier34

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:04 pm GMT

    Wow that is a lot. The average donation per user is really big.

  • NorseLax09

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 6:03 pm GMT

    How is donating money to charity going to get Bioware/EA to do anything? I mean, its great that people are doing it, but nothing will come of it. If it isn't hurting the company in any way they aren't going to react.

  • Lionheart199020

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 5:50 pm GMT

    So... a bad ending convinced people to raise 35,000 dollars for charity?



    God bless Bioware/EA.

  • harryikem

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 5:48 pm GMT

    I love games and all. but seriously its just a game !!

  • sambora113 posted Mar 14, 2012 5:48 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    sambora113

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 5:48 pm GMT (hide)

    This seriously annoys me! GAMERS GET OVER IT! Us the gamers don't have the right to state this. Its a game, you played the game, the game ended the way it did...so what?! The developers and creative people who this project belongs to wanted the game to end the way it did. Gamers are getting power in the wrong ways lately. I'm probably going to get seriously slammed for this comment aren't I?...

  • nighmarishkitte

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 5:36 pm GMT

    just make dlc that takes place after the ending to explain what happened or to get closure

  • xcollector posted Mar 14, 2012 5:28 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    xcollector

    Posted Mar 14, 2012 5:28 pm GMT (hide)

    Get over it. Its just a game. BioWare screwed up Dragon Age. It was only a matter of time before they would screw up Mass Effect too. That's business. Its time to move on and look forward to the next great, emerging developers, and leave BioWare on EA life support.

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